Guardian Pin

Your phone's SOS
does not tell your circle

When seconds matter, that button does not reach the people you chose. Hold for two seconds. They get a private alert with a map, and live location only while the alert is active.

Get Guardian Pin · CA$2.99/mo See how it works

Available on Google Play and the App Store.

Outdoors

Far from the trailhead, still one hold away

When signal is thin and plans change, your circle gets a private page that follows you, only for as long as the alert stays on.

Evening

The walk home, with people who already know

No account needed for the people you trust. They get an email with the map, then a private link while the alert is live.

Family

For the people who should know first

Build a circle once. When something feels off, hold to alert, and end it with your PIN when you are safe.

The service

They know you need them

The people you love see where you are, straight away, and they know when you are safe. How it works.

  1. You hold the button.
  2. They get an email with the map and the time. While the alert is active, the private page follows the location as it updates.
  3. Someone presses "I saw this alert" on the private page. You see it on your alert screen as acknowledged. The rest of the circle does not see it, so they call or text each other.
  4. You end the alert with your PIN. Live location stops, and they get an email that you are safe.

Who it's for

Ordinary days, when someone you love is out: a run, a shift, a trip, the walk home. Guardian Pin is for adults and older teens. You need to be 13 or older in the United States and Canada, 14 or older in Quebec, and 16 or older everywhere else.

  • A run
  • A shift
  • A trip
  • The walk home

In the app

  • Sign-in

    Sign in with Apple on iPhone or with Google on Android during first launch. That is the account, one per person, there is no separate username, and Emergency services stays reachable with no account.

Getting set up

Getting set up is a short checklist: permissions, your circle, Medical ID if you want it, and a PIN. When those are in place, you are ready.

Setup checklist. Location, Contacts, and Alert recording permissions are each marked Ready.
The setup checklist, with each permission marked Ready.

Contacts and circles

Add people by phone or email, or import them from your address book, which the app only reads. Add, rename, and delete circles. Alerts go to your primary circle.

Family circle screen marked Primary, with Alert this circle turned on, a Send test alert button, and two members, Jordan Rivera and Sam Rivera, who are made-up people.
A circle with two people. Alerts go to your primary circle.

Satellite maps outside the city

Outside a city, the map switches to satellite on its own, in the app, on the alert page, and in the email. You can still switch by hand. Satellite needs a data connection.

Active yellow alert in rural Montana. The map has switched to satellite view, with a Map view button and a list of location pins below.
A test alert in rural Montana. The map switched to satellite view on its own.

Hold to alert

Hold the button for 2 seconds to email your circle. The people in it do not need the app.

Guardian Pin home screen in standby with Yellow selected. A large button reads Hold 2 seconds to alert Family, with shortcuts to Circles, Medical ID, and Settings below.
Hold for 2 seconds. Emergency services is separate.

Only your PIN ends an alert

Ending an active alert asks for your app PIN, which stops live location and emails your circle that you are safe. A test alert and Emergency services do not ask for the PIN.

End this alert screen with a field for the app PIN. It says your circle stops receiving your location and gets an email that the alert has ended.
Only your PIN ends an alert. Live location stops when you do.

While the app is locked

The app can stay locked behind your PIN, and you can still hold to alert or open the dialer from that screen. Unlocking the rest of the app needs your PIN, which stays on the phone.

Lock screen asking for the PIN to continue. Hold to alert and an Emergency services button are still available.
Hold to alert, or open the dialer, even while the app is locked.

Send a test to your circle

Send a test so your circle can see the email, marked so they know no action is needed. It does not include your location or Medical ID, and it does not open the dialer.

Confirmation that reads Send a test to Family? It says each contact with an email gets a message marked TEST, no action needed, without location or Medical ID, and that the test does not open the emergency dialer.
A test tells your circle that no action is needed.

Discreet mode

Discreet mode uses quieter navy and gold, so a glance is less likely to look like an emergency app. Hold to alert still works, on iPhone and Android.

Android Stealth and camouflage screen with Use discreet home and Enable calculator decoy both turned on.
Android
iPhone Stealth and camouflage settings screen. It shows the Stealth hub, with Use discreet home turned on and Enable calculator decoy turned on.
iPhone

Calculator decoy

A calculator decoy hides Guardian Pin until you enter your PIN, then equals. Anyone else can use it as a calculator, on iPhone and Android.

Android calculator decoy covering Guardian Pin, with number keys, an equals key, and an Emergency services link.
Android
iPhone calculator decoy covering Guardian Pin. It looks like a plain calculator with number keys and an equals key.
iPhone

  • Text my circle

    Text my circle opens your phone's Messages app with your circle's numbers and your location filled in. You press Send.

  • Medical ID

    Medical ID has separate optional fields for biological sex and gender identity. A section is shared only when you turn it on and consent, only with your primary circle during an alert, and never to paramedics or responders.

  • Recordings

    If you allow the camera and microphone, clips record during an alert with a visible indicator. On iPhone, iOS Data Protection keeps the clip available after the first unlock, including while the phone is locked during an alert. The clip is sent over HTTPS. That server copy is not end-to-end encrypted. Only you can watch it in the app, and it is not shown to your circle, on the alert page, or in the email.

In an emergency

Guardian Pin is a notification tool plus a call you start. It emails the contacts you chose. Those people are not professional responders. They may not see the email, or act on it, in time. Sending an alert needs a data connection, signal, and battery. Guardian Pin does not contact emergency services itself. On Android, one press opens the dialer with your local emergency number filled in. On iPhone, one press opens the call and iOS asks you to confirm. You press call. Guardian Pin does not place the call. If that cannot open, call your local emergency number yourself.

Mission

Learn more

Ready when you are

One subscription of CA$2.99 a month in Canada. Location is shared only during an alert. Alerts, test alerts, Medical ID sharing, and Emergency services stay available if the subscription lapses.

Get Guardian Pin · CA$2.99/mo